The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described the personal invitation to President Bola Tinubu by Pope Leo XIV to attend his inauguration as a reflection of Nigeria’s great stature in the comity of nations.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Emeka Nwankpa, and Secretary, Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG added that Tinubu is the first Nigerian President to attend a Papal inauguration in recent memory.
The statement read in part: “When the Presidency announced that President Tinubu would be attending the inauguration of the Catholic Pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, it did mention that the Papal invitation by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, underscored the need for the President’s physical presence.
“For us, it represents the importance that the Vatican accorded the President and the country in the scheme of things, especially as the inauguration ceremony was to be Pope Leo’s first interaction with world leaders.
Indeed, the Pope had a brief interaction with all the international leaders in attendance, including President Tinubu, US Vice President J.D. Vance and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu’s presence at the Pope’s inauguration is the first time in 20 years that a Nigerian leader would be attending a Papal inauguration.
“In 2005, when Pope Benedict XVI was inaugurated, there is nothing on record to show that the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian, was at the event even though Nigeria had a delegation in attendance that year.
“When Pope Francis celebrated his papal inauguration in March 2013, the Nigerian delegation was headed by the then Senate President, David Mark, who delivered former President Goodluck Jonathan’s congratulatory letter to the Pope.
“But in President Tinubu, we had a Muslim, who not only accepted the Papal invitation to attend Pope Leo’s inauguration but also showed up and, after exchanging pleasantries with the Pope, told newsmen that his presence was consistent with the true sense of achieving unity in diversity.
“This is more so as some Christians in Nigeria had expressed reservations about peaceful coexistence and religious harmony as a result of the President’s Muslim-Muslim ticket, which they actively worked against in the 2023 election.
“We, however, note that in the course of President Tinubu’s meeting with members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria who were part of his delegation to the Pope’s inauguration, he reaffirmed his commitment to using ‘our diversity, not for adversity but for prosperity’.
“It is also a good development that the head of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference acknowledged the President’s action in facilitating their attendance at Pope Francis’ funeral as well as the inauguration of Pope Leo.”
The group expressed hope that many more Nigerians would appreciate the president as a fair-minded leader, contrary to the pre-election impression sold to them by the opposition.
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